1. Field of Non-Limiting Exemplary Embodiments
Present non-limiting exemplary embodiments relate to a puzzle game apparatus, a puzzle game program, and a storage medium having the puzzle game program stored therein. More particularly, the present non-limiting exemplary embodiments relate to a puzzle game apparatus and a puzzle game program which allow a puzzle game to be played on, for example, a home-use TV game machine, an arcade video game machine, or a hand-held game machine, and a storage medium having a puzzle game program stored therein.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventionally, the following puzzle games are known, among others: a puzzle game disclosed in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 3-71154 (hereinafter referred to as “Technique 1”); a product designated “Tetris” marketed by Nintendo Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Technique 2”); a puzzle game disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 4-54986 (a product designated “Dr. Mario” marketed by Nintendo Co., Ltd.; hereinafter referred to as “Technique 3”); and a product designated “Panel De Pon” (also known overseas as “Tetris Attack” or “Pockemon Puzzle League”) marketed by Nintendo Co., Ltd.; hereinafter referred to as “Technique 4”).
Techniques 1 to 3 may be classified as puzzle games concerning dropping objects (dropping-object games), where objects such as blocks or capsules appear to fall down from the top of the game screen, and are operated by a player while they are falling so as to land in particular positions which cannot be changed once the objects have landed and piled up. The idea behind the dropping-object games of Techniques 1 to 3 is, by resourcefully changing where to pile up the objects, the player can make sure that objects form a contiguous horizontal row, or any line or chain of a predetermined number of objects; as a result, such objects disappear and any other objects which were present above the disappeared objects shift downwards. The number of erased lines or objects may be counted into the score. If the objects pile up to a certain height as a result of mis-operation or mis-planning on the player's part, the game is over.
On the other hand, Technique 4 embodies a game where panels of different attributes such as colors or textures rise from the bottom, whose positions can be switched along a vertical or horizontal direction by the operations of a player, such that once a certain number (or more) of panels of the same attribute are present along a vertical or horizontal direction, such panels disappear, until the panels reach a threshold height, at which time the game is over.
In any one of Techniques 1 to 4, the only input device which is controllable by the player to execute game operations, including switching or addition of blocks, is the button(s) provided on the game apparatus. Moreover, in the case where new blocks are added (whether falling or rising) into the game screen, such additional blocks will only come from a fixed direction. Therefore, simply by repeatedly playing the puzzle game, a player may eventually become able to formulate some sort of strategy for erasing blocks, and advance the game so as to be able to erase as many blocks as possible with each single operation.
As mentioned above, in the case of conventional puzzle games, the only input means for conveying the intentions of a player is the operation switch(es) provided on a controller for the game machine. Therefore, there is a problem in that the game operation may become monotonous, thus detracting from the fun of game playing and reducing the sense of involvement. Moreover, any change in the displayed images (hereinafter referred to as “image transformation”) occurs based on the user's operation on the puzzle elements using the controller. Since any changes will occur in predictable and non-accidental manners, the game play may become monotonous and boring.
While conventional puzzle games may be able to allow a player to partially switch the positions of one or several selected blocks before new puzzle elements such as blocks are added on the displayed image, it is not possible to cause a drastic change in the arrangement of a large number of puzzle elements which are already present, or displayed in a fixed manner, on the displayed image.
Since the puzzle elements will only move in one fixed direction with respect to the display screen, and any additional puzzle elements will come from a fixed direction, it becomes easy to formulate strategies for game clearance after playing the game for a while, rather than constantly requiring adaptations to accidental changes. In this respect, conventional puzzle games are likely to become boring.